Youth Day loses power: Hector Pieterson ‘turning in grave’ over so-called progress

As South Africans remembered the Soweto uprising which marked an important moment where pupils stood up against the apartheid regime, several young people said Youth Day has lost its impact and significance, especially on the youth.

While this day was commemorated with respect and dignity by paying homage to those who died fighting for a decolonised and fair education system, it was now marked by soaring youth unemployment, a skyrocketing cost of living and racism in schools, among others.

According to the Tshwane University of Technology student Caroline More, apart from youth unemployment, young people were faced with many other adversities and constricted by socioeconomic issues which was an extreme betrayal of what the youth of 1976 fought for.

“We still have a long way to go,” she said. “And I’m sure Hector Pieterson and everyone else who died during the uprising are turning in their graves looking at the so-called progress we’ve made.”

However, Amnesty International SA said the government should rather focus on quality education in a safe environment if it wants to tackle youth unemployment.

“The dire state of education in SA has a direct impact on youth unemployment,” Amnesty International SA’s executive director Shenilla Mohamed said. “If the government wants the youth to participate in the economy, it needs to ensure every child, no matter their background, is given quality education.”

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One South Africa Movement national spokesperson Mudzuli Rakhivhane agreed with Amnesty International.

“The quality of education afforded to the majority of our children is substandard,” he said. “Lack of resources and infrastructure, low standards, pit toilets, crowded classrooms, unaccountable teachers and a 30% pass mark all need intervention.”

However, Koketso Seripe, 28, said celebrating this day was just a “waste of time”, as many young people in SA were still excluded from the economy.

“I honestly don’t know why we’re celebrating when more than half of young people in this country are unemployed, GBV stats are rising, our president laughing over a R22 million flag and young people still depending on R350s.”

Freedom Front Plus national youth leader Tammy Breedt said Youth Day offered nothing to celebrate and instead shone the spotlight on the many challenges faced by young people. Words without actions have failed the South African youth, who now had nothing to be grateful for.

“There is indeed no reason to celebrate Youth Day,” Breedt said. “Instead, it has become a day to mourn and ponder what this day could have been and would have been if the ANC did not value the past more than the present.”

University of Johannesburg student Penelope Motlhareng said Youth Day was not just a holiday but a movement which yielded good results.

President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday said in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, that SA has produced four times the number of African graduates than in 1994.

– reitumetsem